In some exciting news, Marrickville Library has just been announced as a finalist in the International Public Library of the Year Award 2021.
The library is among five other finalists, including China’s New Ningbo Library, the new Deichman Bjørvika in Oslo Norway, the Forum Groningen in the Netherlands, and the Het Predikheren in Belgium.
Nearly all have cinemas, play and meeting areas and public spaces, but what does Marrickville have that they don’t?
The Marrickville Library. Photo: Kate Geraghty.
The Library has a special collection of Greek books, of course! It was also the first to establish a Hellenic Book Club in Australia, which aims to showcase and discuss books that promote Greek literature and history.
“It’s not just a library, it is the town square. It is the heart of Marrickville. It is such a lively place. There are so many young people coming in. It is not quiet or old or dead. It is lively and youthful,” Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne, told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Designed by architects BVN, the library has already won nine national architecture awards, three National Trust heritage awards and a NSW landscaping award.
Inner West Mayor, Darcy Byrne, at Marrickville Library. Photo: Kate Geraghty.
When announcing the shortlist, the judges admired the library’s beautiful adaptive re-use of the old Marrickville hospital. The floating canopy roof originates from the pitched roof of the existing building.
Since it opened in late 2019, visitor numbers have more than doubled. Last October, the 3600 square metre library had 53,000 visitors, including a record number of young people studying at university or the HSC.
There’s no doubt the local Greek community, which includes around 2,353 people according to the last census, are among these visitors as they sample the fantastic architecture and Greek books on offer.
In a Four Corners and ABC Investigations exclusive on Monday night, five casino inspectors spoke out about how they were blocked from investigating serious crime in Melbourne’s Crown Casino.
One of these inspectors was former Victoria Police officer, Danny Lakasas, who worked for the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) and was supposed to have oversight of the casino by keeping out criminal influence and infiltration.
But Lakasas, along with the four other inspectors who include Former VCGLR Senior Inspector Peter McCormick, told the program that over the years they lost access to parts of the casino, were shadowed by Crown staff in high-roller rooms, and felt their presence was unwelcome.
They also told Four Corners their roles at the casino were constantly undermined as the watchdog they worked for gave Crown what it wanted again and again.
In fact, Lakasas detailed how he once ran a 12-month operation to track the use of counterfeit notes at the casino — methodically tracking dates, times and gaming table numbers, as well as who the dealers and patrons were.
Former Victoria Police officer, Danny Lakasas. Photo: Four Corners.
He told the program that when he compiled what he’d found and passed it up the chain, nothing happened.
“Somebody from intel came down then, took all the information, said, ‘Thanks very much.’ That was the last I heard of it,” Lakasas said in the episode.
“You get disheartened after a while, and you start thinking, well, why am I busting my backside in doing all this work when it’s not going to go anywhere and nothing’s going to happen?”
The casino inspector went on to say that during a period of upheaval at the regulator, James Packer ramped up Crown’s aggressive expansion into the Chinese high-roller market. VIP gamblers were also brought into Melbourne by third party agents known as junket operators.
Danny Lakasas has spoken out about he was blocked from investigating crime at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. Photo: Four Corners.
To Lakasas, the casino suddenly became more vulnerable to organised crime.
“What changed then with the junkets coming in was the amount of Chinese people coming in, having their own rooms, and gambling basically millions of dollars,” Lakasas told Four Corners.
“What we saw was a lot of money change hands… I don’t know where this money came from, or how it was accounted for, or whether the state was receiving their cut of taxes at that time, because it was all mainly cash.”
Both Crown and the regulator declined to be interviewed by Four Corners. A VCGLR spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment while the royal commission into Crown Melbourne was underway.
But all five inspectors have risked speaking out so that they might see a regulator restored with sufficient power, expertise and independence.
“So many ex-inspectors speaking up just shows that they’re concerned and that the system’s broken, and hopefully our voices are taken on board and something’s done about it,” Lakasas says.
Westpac says at least seven major corporate customers including Coles, Woolworths, Veolia and WesTrac have been caught up in an alleged fraud involving fake invoices and forged signatures that could cost the bank more than $290 million, The Sydney Morning Heraldreports.
After the bank launched legal action against Sydney-based Forum Financial, which is run by Basile Papadimitriou, on Friday, documents released by the Federal Court reveal new details about the scandal and how it was uncovered.
According to the SMH, one of the documents also says Mr Papadimitriou, known as Bill Papas, has not been contactable since mid-June when he did not attend a scheduled meeting with WesTrac due to a “health emergency.”
The bank’s repeated requests to contact Mr Papas had gone nowhere and the last information received suggested he was in Perth Hospital, according to the documents.
Westpac has said none of its corporate customers appear to have suffered financial loss, but the affidavits point to a trail of fake signatures that were uncovered following an investigation in recent weeks, the SMH writes.
Students from the language schools of the Greek Community of Melbourne excelled at the Oral Speech Festival 2020, which was organised by the Association of Modern Greek Teachers of Victoria.
The winners based on the category in which they participated are:
Poems of 1st Category: Year 3 and 4
1st place: Angelina Dimitrakopoulou from the Narra Warren Year 4 class with her recital of the poem ‘The Tsoliades.’
Poems of 5th Category: Year 11 and 12
1st place: Year 11 student, Katerina Liappi, from the Doncaster class, with her recital of the poem ‘They fell to Ioannina’ by Aristotle Valaoritis.
2nd place: Year 11 student, Angeliki Kaye, from the Doncaster class, with her recital of the poem ‘They fell to Ioannina’ by Aristotle Valaoritis.
3rd place: Year 11 student, Vangelis Tomaras, from the Doncaster class, with his recital of the poem ‘The Old Man of Moria.’
“I’m excited to win! When my teacher gave me the poem, the truth is that I was stressed and I was thinking how to say it…” Angelina Dimitrakopoulou, who won first place in the primary school category, says.
“I was not so excited when I was given the poem, but learning it put me in the process of having a good time with my family, because it eventually became a family affair, and I also learned new words in Greek. It is definitely something I will remember with joy for the Greek school!”
The purpose of the Festival is for the children to enjoy the Greek language through testing it in practice and to gain or strengthen students’ self-confidence in oral speech.
This year, the theme of the Festival was also dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the start of the Greek Revolution.
The teachers and students of the Community Schools welcomed, as every year, the Festival with enthusiasm. After studying the poems to be recited, as well as the topics for speech, they prepared and started shooting because, instead of a live presentation this year due to COVID-19, the students videotaped the recitation of the poem or the presentation of their speech.
“We congratulate all our students who participated and were tested at the Festival. We rejoice in their distinctions and, paraphrasing Cavafy’s poem, what ultimately matters is the journey itself and not the attainment of the goal, the road and not the finish, the struggle and not Ithaca. A big congratulations to all our children! Well done!” the new director of the School of Language and Culture of the Community, Mrs. Maria Bakalidou, said.
Senator for Western Australia, Rachel Siewert, has joined the Joint Justice Initiative and pledged to recognise the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides.
Senator Siewert signed an affirmation of support for the Joint Justice Initiative, which calls for Federal Australian recognition of the genocides of 1915.
The February 2020 launch of the Joint Justice Initiative at Australia’s Parliament House featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Assyrian National Council – Australia (ANC) and Australian Hellenic Council (AHC), which declares Australia’s recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides as a priority on behalf of their communities.
Senator for Western Australia, Rachel Siewert, has joined the Joint Justice Initiative.
A long standing Perth resident, Senator Siewert is the Whip of The Australian Greens and Chair of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee.
The Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Haig Kayserian, said that the Joint Justice Initiative is extremely proud to have another federal parliamentarian on board.
“On behalf of the Armenian-Australian, Greek-Australian and Assyrian-Australian communities, we thank Senator Siewert for her support,” Mr Kayserian said.
The Joint Justice Initiative has so far announced the support of Siewert, Susan Templeman MP, Adam Bandt MP, Tim Wilson MP, Senator Janet Rice, Steve Georganas MP, Michael Sukkar MP, Senator Louise Pratt, Warren Entsch, Joel Fitzgibbon MP, Andrew Wilkie MP, Julian Leeser MP, Michelle Rowland MP, Senator Paul Scarr, Tony Zappia MP, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Senator Hollie Hughes, Senator Rex Patrick, Mike Freelander MP, Senator Eric Abetz, Senator Larissa Waters, Senator Pat Dodson, Jason Falinski MP, Josh Burns MP, John Alexander MP, Senator Andrew Bragg and Bob Katter MP, with a promise of more announcements to come.
Queensland has recorded six new cases of COVID-19 overnight, with one of those cases locally acquired.
Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the local case, who is a student nurse, was linked to the existing Alpha cluster.
“She is a close contact of the man that we reported yesterday from Sinnamon Park (in Brisbane),” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“She lives at Kangaroo Point and she is in home quarantine at the moment.”
This news comes after Queensland recorded four locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with all of the cases linked to the Greek Orthodox Community Centre cluster.
The cluster emerged last week when a mother, who is an administration employee within the St George Greek Orthodox Parish and Community respite team, tested positive. She had been been working at the Administration building on Browning Street in South Brisbane at the time.
“The person was symptomatic on Tuesday morning and immediately self-isolated as per Government regulations and was subsequently tested,” the St George Parish and Community said in a media release at the time.
“Areas where she worked remain closed and are being deep cleaned, and the person’s network of friends, colleagues and respite users are being contacted together with the respite service users during the relevant period.”
Since then, Chief Health Officer, Jeannette Young, has said the Greek community centre cluster is linked to the Portuguese Family Centre cluster, which spread when a flight attendant contracted the virus while in hotel quarantine and spent time in the community while unknowingly infectious.
On Monday, Young indicated that over 23 COVID-19 cases have now been linked to the clusters.
Jeannette Young has provided information on the suspected link between COVID clusters. File image. Credit: AAP.
Greek Orthodox priests in South Brisbane mandated to isolate at home:
In a Facebook post on July 3, Father Dimitri Tsakas from the St George Greek Orthodox Church in South Brisbane confirmed that he, along with Father Stavros and many of his co-workers, were mandated by Queensland Health to home isolate and quarantine.
“Fr Stavros and I will isolate for the mandatory period, meaning we should be back on board Wednesday 14 July. In the meantime we cannot leave home for any purpose, including Pastoral callouts or Services,” Father Dimitri wrote in the post.
“We accept the decision with gratitude in the interest of keeping everyone safe and healthy.”
The parish priest went on to say the administration building will be “deep cleaned in accordance with Health Department directives.”
The church will also be open to the public this Sunday, July 11 for services. Fr George Papoutsakis will conduct the service.
Adelaide’s District Court has heard there is “unlikely to be any debate” that a young man suffered “mental impairment” during a crash that killed two Adelaide women last year, the ABCreports.
Harrison Kitt has pleaded not guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving over a high-speed crash in April 2020.
Senior police officer, Joanne Shanahan (nee Panayiotou), and mother, Tania McNeill, died in the collision at the intersection of Cross and Fullarton roads in Urrbrae, south of Adelaide.
Prosecutor Patrick Hill told the court while it was likely “mental impairment” was a relevant factor of the crash, there were other matters that still needed to be considered.
“One issue … relates to self-induced intoxication and whether that may have been a substantial cause of Mr Kitt’s episode,” Mr Hill said, according to the ABC.
David Edwardson QC, for Mr Kitt, said his client’s toxicology report was zero at the time of the crash.
Harrison Kitt outside court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz.
“There are no reports that indicate otherwise; indeed, [psychiatrist] Dr [Paul] Furst’s report positively dismissed the notion of self-induced intoxication,” Mr Edwardson said.
The court has previously heard Mr Kitt has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has manic episodes and psychotic features.
The diagnosis has been confirmed by a clinical psychiatrist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
The matter was adjourned for three weeks, with Mr Kitt next set to appear in court later this month.
A deadly fire that claimed four lives and has been described as the most destructive blaze in Cyprus’ 61-year history as an independent republic is now fully under control, Cypriot authorities said Monday.
Cyprus’ Forestry Department said more than 600 people managed to contain the blaze early Monday after scorching more than 55 square kilometers (21 square miles), forcing the evacuation of nine villages and burning down homes, businesses, orchards and forest.
Fire crews remain on the scene in case the blaze reignites amid temperatures reaching 35 C (95 F). Cyprus Electricity Authority officials said they hope to have power restored to at least seven villages by Monday evening.
This house and a vehicle in the Larnaca region were gutted by the blaze. Picture: EPA.
Search crews on Sunday discovered the bodies of four people who are believed to be Egyptian laborers outside the village of Orou on the southern edge of Cyprus’ main Troodos mountain range.
The men, ages 22 to 29, had gone missing Saturday afternoon when the fire began outside the nearby village of Arakapas and spread quickly amid strong winds.
Officials said the four tried to flee the fire along a dirt mountain track, but their small truck veered off the road and fell down an embankment. They tried to flee on foot, but didn’t make it.
Trade Union PEO has asked for a full investigation into the laborers’ deaths as well as their work safety conditions.
The forest fire claimed the lives of four people. Picture: AFP.
President Nicos Anastasiades called the fire “an unprecedented tragedy” for Cyprus except for the destruction wreaked by a 1974 war that split the island along ethnic lines after Turkey invaded in response to a coup aimed at union with Greece.
Some area residents who lost their homes and property to the fire wept as they described seeing a lifetime’s worth of labor going up in flames. People were allowed back to their homes after their villages were declared safe.
Anastasiades, who toured the fire-hit villages on Sunday, pledged immediate government help to farmers and homeowners who lost crops and property and the families of those who perished in the fire.
Crews are already assessing the damage so that fire-afflicted residents can receive the first compensation packages later this week.
A man walks through the burned forest, in Ora village in Cyprus on Sunday. Credit: AP.
Anastasiades on Monday opened up a bank account for private contributions to help those who lost their homes and livelihoods.
Police spokesman, Christos Andreou, told The Associated Press that a 67-year-old man is being investigated on arson charges. He said “more than one witness” had seen the man leave his orchard shortly before a fire broke out there. A court ordered that he remain in custody for eight days.
Fire crews had been joined by police officers, soldiers, Civil Defense and Wildlife Service staff, as well as many members of the public who volunteered to help. Authorities said more than 70 fire engines, 14 bulldozers and numerous water tankers were mobilised, while a National Guard drone provided eyes overhead to locate new fire fronts.
A total of nine Cypriot firefighting aircraft, and police and National Guard helicopters were deployed. Two helicopters from British military bases in Cyprus also helped firefighting efforts, along with two Greek Canadair CL-415 aircraft and two Israeli fixed-wing planes.
Μετέφερα τηλεφωνικώς την ευγνωμοσύνη μας στους φίλους Πρωθυπουργούς @PrimeministerGR και @IsraeliPM για την αποστολή πτητικών μέσων, στηρίζοντας τις προσπάθειές μας για τον έλεγχο της καταστροφικής πυρκαγιάς. Μια απόδειξη στην πράξη της άριστης συνεργασίας των χωρών μας. 🇨🇾🇬🇷🇮🇱
— Nicos Anastasiades (@AnastasiadesCY) July 5, 2021
Anastasiades thanked Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for his assistance during a phone call on Monday morning, with Mitsotakis later sending his condolences for the human lives lost during the bushfires on Twitter.
“Greece, as we assisted with 2 Canadair to put out the fire, will always be on the side of Cyprus,” Mitsotakis wrote on Twitter.
Diaspora in Australia are also doing their part to help out with the clean up effort, after the Cypriot Community of Melbourne and Victoria launched a GoFund Me page in an attempt to fundraise for their compatriots.
“The Cyprus Community of Melbourne & Victoria stands hand in hand and supports the victims of the current devastating fires in Cyprus,” the committee wrote on Facebook after launching the fundraiser.
Divers have reported a rare sighting of hundreds of endangered seahorses in a polluted lagoon in western Greece and warn they could be lost if the area is not cleaned up.
“We see hundreds here and if they remain we have hope,” said diver, Vasilis Mentogiannis, an expert in underwater surveys who has led efforts to protect the seahorses. “I don’t think there is a similar situation to this anywhere else in Greece.”
A protected species threatened by overfishing and pollution, seahorses need an environment full of organisms to feed on and plant life to hide.
A seahorse rests on the seabed of the Aitoliko lagoon, Greece, May 31, 2020. Photo: Vassilis Mentogiannis/Handout via REUTERS.
Older fishermen say Aitoliko lagoon in the northern Patras Gulf used to contain thousands of seahorses but their numbers have plummeted in recent years and local divers were amazed when they found a group of the creatures.
“It was the first time I had spotted seahorses and they were in a place I least expected,” said local diver Labros Charelos.
Aitoliko, which reaches depths of up to 30 meters, is linked by narrow channels to a shallow lagoon open to the sea. Over recent years, leaks from damaged irrigation canals as well as factory waste and fertilizers have cut off oxygen and polluted the lagoon, which on windy days gives off a “rotten egg” smell from hydrogen sulfide produced by its oxygen-depleted waters.
Divers have spotted endangered seahorses in a polluted Greek lagoon.
“Near the surface it is viable, it’s the deeper depths that are a problem,” said University of Patras Professor, George Katselis.
Spyros Kariofyllis has been fishing in Aitoliko for decades and says he has reached a point where he doesn’t catch anything.
“When I throw my live bait in … when it reaches five and half meters it dies, and not only does it die but there is no living organism to eat it down there,” he said.
A seahorse swims in the Aitoliko lagoon, Greece, June 13, 2021. Photo: Vassilis Mentogiannis/Handout via REUTERS.
Helped by 21 million euros of EU funds, the government is going ahead with a long-delayed study on repairing the damage but Mentogiannis said time was short for the seahorses.
For the moment, they have found a spot with oxygen and food, far from fishing areas but if hydrogen sulfide levels increase, it may be too late.
From a young age, Angelina Lati was always healthy, bubbly and energetic. That is until, at the tender age of 14, her family started to notice subtle changes in her demeanour which derailed her life forever.
“She started dropping things. Every time she was setting the table, she was dropping the glasses on the floor and I’d ask what was going on and she’d go, ‘I don’t know.’ Her hands were just not holding the cups,” Angelina’s mum, Niki Markou, tells The Greek Herald.
Later, Angelina fell over while walking the family dog and this all prompted Ms Markou to make an appointment with a neurologist. But before the appointment arrived, Angelina had a terrifying seizure at the family home.
“She had a seizure in my arms and I had to put her down on the ground. I’d never seen one before so to me, it was very traumatising. I was screaming,” Ms Markou says.
Niki Markou with Angelina as a young girl. Photo supplied.
Angelina was rushed to hospital and was initially misdiagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. She was prescribed medication but after a few months, it was clear she wasn’t getting any better and she began to show signs of cognitive decline.
A lengthy hospital stay followed along with extensive genetic testing. Eventually, Angelina, who was 15 by then, received the heartbreaking diagnosis of Lafora Disease, which is a form of childhood dementia.
“I honestly felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I felt out of control… I think I was in shock and denial because it just didn’t sound rational or believable,” Ms Markou explains with tears in her eyes.
‘She’s not going to grow old’:
Ms Markou isn’t alone. Many Australians don’t know much about childhood dementia, which is progressive brain damage that starts before the age of 18. There are over 70 types of the disease, each caused by changes in the DNA because they are genetic diseases.
The statistics around childhood dementia are just as startling.
Angelina Lati has been diagnosed with Lafora Disease, which is a type of childhood dementia. Photo supplied.
Head of Research at the Childhood Dementia Initiative (CDI), Dr Kristina Elvidge, says 1 in 2800 babies born will develop dementia in childhood. That’s 129 babies born each year in Australia, one every three days. It is estimated that almost 2,300 Australians are currently living with childhood dementia, which adds up to 700,000 people worldwide.
The signs and symptoms themselves are similar to those you might have seen in an elderly relative suffering from dementia. They include for example, lack of concentration, memory loss, personality and behavioural changes, and even loss of speech and mobility.
“Childhood dementia affects the child’s ability to think, learn and remember. They suffer loss of cognitive function and loss of previously gained skills,” Dr Elvidge elaborates.
“Each of the childhood dementia disorders have a different age of onset and life expectancy, but the average across all of the disorders is 28 years of age (including those few that have a treatment). In fact, 75 percent of the children have a life expectancy below 18 years of age, so their lives are severely shortened.”
Angelina is mostly tube-fed now. Photo supplied.
In Angelina’s case, she’s now 17 years old and her mum says although she can still walk, she doesn’t talk much anymore, she’s mostly tube-fed and the dementia has ‘come on.’
“It’s like she’s fading away. That’s the only way to describe it. You watch old videos back and that’s when you really realise the difference of how she was and how she is now and how quick the progression is,” Ms Markou says.
“She’s not going to get married, she’s not going to have kids, she’s not going to grow old, she’s not going to be with us. You start thinking of all those future things that are going to be taken away from you.”
The race to save Angelina:
Finding a treatment for Angelina’s type of childhood dementia is proving very challenging despite many years of research. In fact, less than five percent of childhood dementia disorders have a treatment and, in many cases, the only options are symptom management and palliative care.
“Care and support for families battling childhood dementia is lacking and poorly coordinated so Childhood Dementia Initiative is working to change this at the same time as accelerating global research into new therapies and cures,” Dr Elvidge says.
The Head of Research at CDI goes on to add that gene therapy is showing promise in clinical trials for some patients. This involves introducing a healthy copy of the faulty gene into the body using a virus. Other research aims to replace the enzyme or protein that is missing due to the faulty gene but getting enough into the brain is a challenge.
Niki is fighting to get her daughter into a clinical trial.
For Angelina, just being accepted into one of these clinical trials in the first place is a challenge. Her mum says she was hoping Angelina could get into a drug therapy trial this year, but it was pushed back by the Food and Drug Administration.
“They wanted further testing done in the labs before it’s to be trialled on humans. It’s been very upsetting because each month is different. They decline so quickly that we don’t know where we will be in 12 months. Will she make it? I don’t know,” Ms Markou says.
The Sydney mum-of-two says ‘time is of the essence’ and that’s why she and her family are determined to not only share Angelina’s story, but also continue to make lasting memories together.
“I want to save my daughter’s life. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the word out there,” Ms Markou concludes.
A passionate statement from a mum who’s determined to give her beautiful daughter the best life possible despite her heartbreaking diagnosis.
